Associate Director - Operating System & Governance

A bit about Smartly (a Datacom company)

Smartly exists to make it simpler for Kiwi businesses to look after their people. We’re trusted by more than 24,000 businesses to deliver payroll and compliance simply, accurately, and on time — backed by intuitive software and an outstanding support team.

Smartly is now entering a new phase of growth. We are evolving from a single-product payroll provider into a multi-product, AI-enabled SaaS platform, with expanding ambitions across people management, automation, and global markets.

With strong profitability, growing scale, and increasing complexity, Smartly’s success depends not just on what we build — but on how the company operates as a system.

The opportunity

As Associate Director – Operating System & Governance, you will be accountable for the integrity, flow, and resilience of how Smartly operates, ensuring the company can scale ambition without scaling chaos.

You will not own delivery execution, product strategy, or technology decisions.
Instead, you will own the enterprise conditions that enable Smartly to:

• move faster without increasing execution risk,
• make high-quality decisions under pressure,
• surface and manage risk early,
• and maintain strong assurance and compliance as the business scales.

This role exists because traditional coordination and control mechanisms no longer scale — and excessive process would undermine speed.

What you’ll be responsible for

Enterprise system flow & decision quality

• Reinforce Smartly’s operating system so it becomes the default and easiest way to get work done.
• Design and run portfolio-level cadences that surface:
• stalled work,
• unresolved trade-offs,
• artificial dependencies,
• and decision bottlenecks.
• Reduce decision latency by ensuring issues are framed clearly, owned by the right executive, and resolved decisively.

Portfolio coherence (not delivery control)

• Maintain a clear, enterprise-level view of initiatives and outcomes across Smartly.
• Lead programme managers as system integrators and decision facilitators, not delivery controllers.
• Eliminate reporting, planning, and governance activity that creates noise rather than clarity.

Risk, assurance & compliance

• Own Smartly’s company-wide risk, assurance, and compliance framework.
• Ensure regulatory, security, operational, and delivery risks are:
• identified early,
• explicitly articulated,
• and managed as inputs to executive decision-making.
• Lead business continuity planning and support ISO27001 and ISAE3402 certification, ensuring governance remains proportional, risk-based, and aligned to speed.

Making inaction visible

• Own the mechanisms that ensure:
• exceptions are explicit and time-bound,
• stalled initiatives are visible,
• and work producing no signal is challenged.
• Escalate systemic patterns of delay or avoidance directly to the CEO and executive team.

What we’re looking for

You are an enterprise system leader, not a delivery manager.

What you'll bring:

• 12+ years’ experience at senior executive or enterprise leadership level in a SaaS or technology-enabled organisation.
• Proven credibility operating as a peer to Product, Technology, GTM, and Operations leaders.
• A track record of designing or stabilising operating systems that allow organisations to move fast without breaking.
• Deep judgement in balancing speed, risk, and organisational capacity.
• Experience owning or partnering on enterprise risk, assurance, and compliance in a growth environment.
• A calm, credible executive presence, particularly under pressure.

Formal programme, portfolio, or governance qualifications may be beneficial — but judgement and enterprise impact matter far more than methodology.

Why Smartly

• A rare opportunity to shape how an entire SaaS company operates
• Genuine C-suite influence, reporting directly to the CEO
• Strong commercial foundation with ambitious growth plans
• A culture that values clarity, learning, and trust
• Flexible working options across Auckland and Wellington

Apply now

If you’re motivated by building systems that allow organisations to scale without losing their soul or their speed, we’d love to hear from you.